Summer Heat
by heRsheys ChoColatier
Summary: Chapter Four: "I'm the only one who's allowed to beat you, China." The summer adventures continue.
1. XXX Resort

**'heRsheys says: **You know, it got me thinking... in the Gintama fandom, words like 'fuck' and 'shit' should simply be rated K. But I don't really know. *shrug*. Rated T just to be safe. :p

**Disclaimer**: I no own Gintama! I will never give justice to Sorachi-sensei's genius.

* * *

Summer Heat

_'heRsheys ChoColatier_

_"What - Where the hell do you think are you taking me?" she demanded as the boy continued to drag her down the stairs._

_After the last step, he turned and leaned on the side of the stairs, abruptly jerking the girl to stand in front of him. Heated azure eyes glared up at him. He leaned down and watched her eyes widen then slowly close._

_With their lips only inches apart, she felt her cheeks heat up. She closed her eyes shut and even pursed her lips a little. Then she waited. And waited._

_The girl cracked an eye open and found the boy was smirking evilly down at her._

_"Heeh. Were you actually expecting me to kiss you?"_

_Her whole face heated up in utter embarrassment. "You - you bastard!" When she tried to hit him, he swiftly caught her wrist._

_"Well, if you really want it..." he swept down and pressed his lips against hers._

Kagura's head shot up and realized she had just slept in the middle of class. Ginpachi-sensei didn't seem to notice and she sighed in relief. She darted her eyes to the side and saw her one true rival looking at her with bored eyes. Kagura sent him a glare and Sougo stuck his tongue out in response.

Now that she thought about it, Sougo looked so much alike the boy in her dream. She scratched her head, frustrated. What was that dream all about, anyway? Speaking of the sadist, Kagura eyed the flaxen-haired lad, watching as he chewed gum and lazily stared in front. These past few days, she herself could admit that she was acting strange, especially when that guy was around. Place him somewhere near her then her heart would beat fast like she just ran the thousand-kilometer run; her face would heat up and just the slightest touch from him would send her flying like a rocket. Kagura shook her head. It must be the summer heat getting to her.

Gintoki peered at his daughter who, contrary to popular belief, he knew just woke up from a nap. Her azure eyes were twinkling brightly. Even though her eyes were directed at him, he knew they were looking past him. He scratched at his nape and sighed. What is the girl thinking about now?

Summer. The word rang through her mind like bells, alerting her brain which then alerted the rest of her body parts. Only a few more days and it'll be summer break. Summer meant no more boring classes. Throughout the period, the Yato simply pondered on how she would celebrate this summer with her friends.

Okita Sougo leaned on his chair after finishing his lunch. He smirked when he noticed that Kagura was going to pass by his way. "Oi, China."

Kagura whipped her head to his direction, "What?"

"Did you know that only real geniuses can say these four words, written here," he waved a paper, "Fast without getting tongue-tied. Ah, but why am I even bothering to tell you this? You're certainly no genius."

"What?! Give me that!" Annoyed, Kagura took the paper and read the words in rapid succession. "Eye, yam, stew, peed. Eye, yam, stew, peed."

At the sadist's sudden laughter did Kagura realize what just happened. She would've plummeted Sougo into a pulp had not Otae intervene. "Kagura-chan, do you have any plans this summer?"

He didn't know why but Sougo paid close attention to the Yato's answer.

"Ah, Gin-chan said we're going to XXX Resort," Kagura replied with a bright smile, completely forgetting her predicament with the resident sadist.

"Did someone say XXX Resort?!" someone suddenly exclaimed. It was Yamazaki.

"I heard they've done some improvements there. They even got a wave pool now." Shinpachi added.

"Hmm. Why don't we go there, too, Kyu-chan?" Otae asked, turning to Kyuubei.

Kyuubei fidgeted before answering, "Uhm... I don't mind." Otae clapped her hands in delight. "Will that be all right, Kagura-chan?"

Kagura nodded enthusiastically.

"Hoo! Toushi! We should go, too!" Kondo exclaimed, pumped up at the idea of spending summer with the love of his life.

Hijikata simply sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to change the gorilla's mind if he tried. Besides, he thought as he looked at the flaxen-haired boy silently listening on the conversation, I'm sure that he wouldn't mind at all, too.

The door opened and there emerged Gintoki with his dead-fish eyes and permed hair. "What's all this ruckus going on about?"

"Gin-chan! Anego are going with us to XXX Resort!" Kagura answered.

"Us, too!" Kondo raised his hand excitedly. He receieved a flying kick on the face by none other than his Otae-san as a response. He was still going.

Katsura joined. "Elizabeth and I will be cheking out that wave pool."

"What the hell?! The whole class is going? What is this? Some kind of summer field trip and shit?" Gintoki exclaimed, horrified. Just when he thought he was going to be separated to this bunch, he sighed in defeat.

"And shit~" Sougo drawled lazily, raising an arm for effect. It certainly was effective because then the class erupted to cheers.

A vein finally popped and Gintoki exploded. "Quiet! And be sure that you've done your _forgotten_ essays five minutes ago!"

Omake

Gintoki decided to check the essays he had assigned to his students. As he sorted through the stack of papers, one caught his attention.

He remembered giving them the instruction that it should have at least five hundred words. Then why, he mused, does this paper look like it hardly has fifteen words on it? He looked into it and found it was Okita Sougo's and read.

_My Lost Cat_

_My cat got lost, so I looked for it._

_Meow (491x)..._

The perm-headed teacher's eye twitched. "What kind of fucked-up essay is this?!"

* * *

:D Tell me what you think, luvs!


	2. Third Kiss

**'heRsheys says: **I'm grateful to everyone who had read the first chapter. Kudos for those who left a review and shared their thoughts. :) Lo and behold, the second chapter!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gintama.

* * *

Summer Heat

_'heRsheys ChoColatier_

_He leaned away. He saw that she had covered her mouth with the back of her hand, bright blue eyes staring widely at him in shock, her face blushing furiously. She was so utterly adorable he was tempted to lean down and kiss her again._

_She didn't let him, though, because the next thing the girl did was to panic. He felt a sweat drop as he watched her fluster, muttering unintelligible sentences as she ran around the place. It seemed that Kami had enough of the girl's antics that she accidentally bumped her head against a low-leveled floor and was knocked unconscious._

_The boy sighed. "Guess it can't be helped..." He gathered the fainted girl in his arm and decided to bring her to the infirmary._

_He was quite confident that stealing another kiss wasn't much of a crime._

Sougo snapped out of his reverie at the sound of Kondou's voice.

"Otae-san! I'm sorry but I just couldn't help it." Sougo watched the love-struck Kondou advancing on the older Shimura. "You just turn me on so mu-!" Before the guy could even touch a hair, he had once again tasted the pain of the infamous tornado kick from Otae.

With a sigh, the flaxen-haired lad rested his cheek against his palm and tried to think of new ways to annihilate a certain mayo-freak seated beside him. However, his thoughts were once again interrupted. It was the annoying monster's voice this time.

"Oi, gorilla! Get up! You still have to do my homework," said Kagura as she headed towards the gorilla, all the while passing by in front of Sougo.

Sougo's eyes followed the girl, watching as she grabbed Kondou by the collar and shouting profanities at him then slamming him back to the floor.

"There goes the China girl, Sougo." said Hijikata who was squirting (too much) mayo in his yakisoba bread.

"Die, Hijikata," Sougo deadpanned.

"What the hell?! You want a round, huh?"

It was a moment later when Sougo spoke.. "I don't get it. She acts like nothing happened. I don't know if she forgot about it or ignored it or didn't really care about it at all. It's pissing me off, actually."

Although Hijikata didn't say anything and just continued to eat his special yakisoba bread, he listened and knew what the brat was talking about. He decided to stay quiet and let the boy speak his mind.

"They were times, though, that she acted like something did change between us. That China blushes more and gets flustered easily." Without him realizing, Sougo's face flushed a faint hue as he thought about the incident yesterday.

He had decided to tease her.

"You know, China, there are actually five steps to start a happy day."

"Eh? Really?" She seemed genuinely interested so he nodded.

"Number one. Close your eyes." He tried to his best not to laugh as he watched her close her eyes.

"Number two. Inhale then exhale." She breathed in and he was momentarily dazed as he watched her chest heave up then down. Sougo shook his head and tried to refocus.

"Number three. Stretch your arms." Kagura did what she was told.

"Number four. Focus your mind." Sougo waited for a moment before continuing. "Lastly..." he trailed off. "Think of me."

Sougo had expected for the monster girl to jump at him and claw at his eyes. She didn't, though. He watched, surprised, as Kagura remained standing with her eyes closed and her arms stretched out. He stayed on his own spot, observing the myriad of emotions on her face.

Her features turned from relaxed to smiling, then, he raised an eyebrow, blushing, going to confused then shocked with her mouth gaping open as a bonus.

And the monster girl really did jump at him and clawed at his eyes. As Sougo fought to keep his handsom face intact, there was one thought that ran through his mind. _ Damn, China did think of me._

"Well, maybe you can do something about it later this afternoon," Hijikata said after a while.

Sougo turned to him, "What do you mean?"

"Your assigned to clean with the china girl," he replied, gesturing to the board.

Sougo moved his gaze to the board and saw that there was indeed a reminder of the day's cleaning duty. It consisted of him, the lady boss and China. Hn.

"That stupid sensei doesn't even know your first name," Hijikata said, exasperated.

"Die, Hijikta."

Twitch. "What the hell?! You really want it, huh? Huh!?"

Sougo simply ignored him.

* * *

Patting Kagura on the top of her head, Sougo said in his usual lazy voice, "Otae-san, you might miss this spot later on. Be sure to sweep this up and throw it in the trash, okay?" He listened to her usual insults and retorts as he proceeded to erase the writings on the board.

Otae simply smiled, musing it was already normal for them to fight like that. After giving the sadist the finger, Kagura went to get a rag cloth to wipe the windows.

"Ne, Kagura-chan, did you know that A-chan and B-kun from #-Y class confessed to each other the other day?" Otae started.

Kagura's hand paused at its current task as she turned, "Eh? Really?" Sougo remained silent but his ears were attentive.

"Mmhm," the brunette nodded, thinking of how romantic it was. "The shocking part is that they kissed _ right after _the confession."

Kagura gasped and faintly blushed, truly intriqued and surprised. Sougo, however, merely rolled his eyes and continued to wipe the chalk from the board.

"Anego, Anego," Kagura called excitedly. "Have you ever had a first kiss?"

"What?" With a hand on her cheek, Otae blushed. "O-Oh my, that spot seems a little too dirty. I should clean that off right now." Then she started to sweep real hard that the floor was rapidly withering away like she was digging a hole.

"Now, look what you've done, China." commented Sougo as he watched Otae sweep the floor _off._

Kagura turned to him. She had her hand at the back of her head and her cute little tongue poking out of her lips. "Oops."

He quickly looked away, all the while covering his face with his hand in a futile attempt to hide the blush that had spread itself on his cheek.

Kagura saw the look on the sadist's face and was confused by it. She didn't dwell on it too much when Otae called her.

"Kagura-chan, what about you? Have you had your first kiss?"

The question surprised Kagura. The dream she had yesterday suddenly popped into her mind. Unbeknownst to her, Sougo's ears were once again attentive. "Hmm... Nope, not yet." Kagura shook her head.

"Oh," Otae responded, a bit disappointed. "That's a - "

"What are you talking about, China?" The abrupt question and the angry tone that carried it both surprised the two women. He walked towards Kagura who was too stunned to move. He grabbed hold of her wrist and tugged on it. "Did you simply _forget _or are you seriously ignoring what happened by the staircase the other day?" His deep red eyes glared at her bright blue ones.

"What the hell are you blabbering about, you conceited je - " Kagura stopped dead on her words and thought about the dream. She gasped. "So... That wasn't a dream..."

Irritated, he flicked at her forehead and she yelped in response, lifting her free hand on the stinging spot. "Apparently, you bonked your head too hard that you actually _did _forget about the kiss."

"Oh, kiss!" Otae commented on the sides.

At the mention of the word, Kagura felt her face heat up she was sure it would put her qipao to shame. "I - I don't remember having a kiss with you!" she lied and hoped against hope that the boy in front of her would just let it go.

Sougo smirked. With a tug on her wrist, he pulled her body closer against his. "Well, I don't mind helping you remember, China." Without further ado, and before he could blow this chance, he leaned down and captured her lips.

"Oh, oh my," Otae murmured, surprised at the scene unfolding before her.

The flaxen-haired boy broke away before his bones could be smashed into little pieces of Lego. But because he couldn't help himself, he quickly leaned down and gave Kagura's lips a lick.

For the second time that day, the Amanto was too stunned to move. She simply watched with parted lips and a flushed face as Sougo retreated and headed for the door.

He paused on his way out and looked at Kagura. "Oh, for your information, China, that was your third one." Sougo stuck a tongue out at her then disappeared behind the door.

Kagura stared at the door, horrified. "YOU PERVERTED SADIST! GO TO HELL!"

* * *

...and POOF! It became Koko Krunch. :D


	3. And So It Begins

'**heRsheys says**: I am sorry. I deeply apologize for updating so late. I'm not going to tell you that the reason why I didn't get to update soon is because my phone, where I mostly write my drafts, crashed. No, I'm not going to tell you that. Although I admit that I'm YOLO. I just love Gumball, okay?! Please don't kill me…

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything. I will never give justice to Sorachi-sensei's genius.

* * *

Summer Heat

_'heRsheys ChoColatier_

Gintoki slammed the door to the trunk of the Starex that he borrowed from a friend. "Everything's set. Get in, you two."

"I get dibs on the front seat," Shinpachi claimed.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Kagura answered. She slid open the door of the vehicle and settled herself on the back part just before the luggage compartment, leaving the seat in front of her vacant.

Shinpachi watched as she bent over her seat and rummage through, considering from the sound of it, some plastic. Not a moment later, Kagura straightened and was triumphantly holding a box of Pocky. "Kagura-chan, what are you doing?" The Pocky stick stopped halfway to her mouth.

After settling on his seat, Gintoki turned his attention to the suspicious girl at the back. "Oi, Kagura. If you're going to ingest all the food and leave us with nothing, I'm going to throw you out and have you become a loser. You got that?"

Kagura pouted as she nibbled on her stick then sunk in her seat in defeat and nodded.

Satisfied with her response, Gin revved the engine to life. "Kondou-san's group are the closest from here so we'll have to pick them up first." Shinpachi informed him.

"Can't we just skip those three idiots and move on to Anego?" Kagura commented as she dug for another stick from the box.

The perm-head looked at her through the one-way mirror. "It's your fault why they're coming with us in the first place."

Once again defeated, Kagura sunk further on her seat and kept her mouth shut.

As soon as the van came to a stop, Kondou waved enthusiastically and greeted the persons by the dashboard. "Konnichi! Good to see you well, bro-in-law."

"Don't call me that!" came Shinpachi's usual retort.

While Kondou and the others had their usual bickering, Sougo let himself in the vehicle. He spotted the orange hair as soon as he opened the door. "Yo, China." Her curt nod bothered him a little. Just a little. He was about to slide himself in the back part and sit beside the monster girl when someone grabbed at the collar of his Hawaiian shirt from behind. Sougo looked over his shoulder and saw it was Danna.

"Uh-uh, Souichirou-kun. I'm sure there's enough space for you in the _vacant _seat here in front." Dead-fish eyes stared at bored red ones and it was a while before Sougo finally shrugged and sat on the seat in front of Kagura.

After securing their own luggage, Hijikata got inside the vehicle and sat beside Sougo. Kondou soon followed. The vehicle revved back to life again and started moving. Kondou caught sight of Kagura in the back and immediately greeted her. "China-san, why are you there all by yourself?"

Kagura patted the empty seat on both sides of her. "Anego and the others will sit here beside me."

Kondou answered her with a crooked smile. "Ah, but I'm pretty sure one more person can fit here beside me."

Still nibbling on a stick, she stared uninterested at the love-struck fool in front of her. "I don't know. It still depends on Anego, after all."

Shimura Otae knew that the worst has come as soon as the vehicle stopped in front of her. The abrupt open of the door and the grinning idiot that emerged from it only confirmed it.

Otae ignored the all-too-familiar declaration of love and turned to her dear friend. "Kyu-chan, there's this one thing that have always boggled my mind." Although her friend doesn't really show it, she knew that Kyuubei was curious, so she continued. "Why do gorillas have hair all over their body except for the ugly part where they need it the most?"

Tears pricked at Kondou's eyes and he was sure that his ears were internally bleeding; he still did his best to make his tone cheerful. "Otae-san! Come sit here beside me!" A flat-out 'No' was the response he got. "But there's still space for one person here! We should maximize our use on this vehicle. We don't know what challenges and hardships that our dear Sensei has done just to get this Starex."

Gintoki merely sat, relaxed, on his seat, picking at his nose as he waited for the usual banter to end. Otae seemed to really think about it, though. "Only if Kyu-chan sits right next to me."

"But only one person can..."

"Kagura-chan, can you scoot over?" Otae called to Kagura.

Kondou immediately panicked. "Ah, wait! Wait!" He turned, "Toushi! Help me out here."

Hijikata scratched at his nape, "I don't really know what to do with this."

Sougo sighed. "I guess it can't be helped," he muttered under his breath. Then he exclaimed with a fairly loud voice, "Danna, it can't be helped." While the perm-head tutted at him, Sougo turned, faced the back of his seat and saw the confused expression on the girl seated just behind them. Ignoring the inquisitions from the bastard beside him, he placed his palms on the back of his seat then lifted himself up.

"Oi, Sougo, wait. You could just go around -"

The flaxen haired boy dived onto the backseat, making sure that his flipflop-cladded foot gets in contact with Hijikata's face, hard. His fall onto the backseat was not great, though. Because as soon as half of his body got past the back of the seat he just occupied earlier, Kagura was there to slap his vulnerable face away to oblivion. Well, not really to oblivion as his face slammed against the hard window of the vehicle. She could've just pummeled his head onto the seat, it would've been much less painful.

Sougo gathered himself together and when he was seated comfortably on his new seat, he glared at the girl that was already on the other side. "What the hell, China?"

"What are you doing here?! Go back to where you came from!" Kagura flailed her arms in front of her, hoping to shoo away the boy.

"Cut that out!"

"Oi, you two!" The irritated voice of their sensei stopped them from doing anything to each other. "If you still want to go with this summer vacation stuff, you better lay down your weapons and behave there like children of your age are supposed to."

"But, Gin-chan..."

"'Buts' are for delivering shit." And with that, he turned the ignition and started the ride.

With a huff, Kagura crossed her arms over her chest and tried to sit away from the sadist as far as possible, and that was to stick on the side of the vehicle and plaster her face against the window. She spared a glance at Sougo moments later and saw that he looked bored as he gazed at the window just beside him. In that same moment, it seemed that he decided to spare her a glance as well. Their eyes met and Kagura couldn't fathom the reason why she hadn't looked away and ignored him. Instead, she stared at his eyes and noticed for the first time they were red as a rose's petal. She couldve looked at it more had she not seen the smirk that had made its way to his face.

Kagura quickly looked away, feeling her face flush out of embarrassment. It took all of her willpower not to strangle the boy to death for catching her off guard and making her feel weird. Maybe it wasn't her day at all. The vehicle moved to a stop once again, and the door opened revealing Katsura in summer attire and Elizabeth beside him. "Zura, why don't sit here in the mid -" Her suggestion was cut off short when a hand closed around her wrist and suddenly yanked her to the other side.

"Don't make it harder for them, China." Sougo said, his tone and voice monotonous.

Kagura gritted her teeth in annoyance. "You bastard..."

"Leader," Katsura greeted as he took a seat beside her. Elizabeth followed and considering her actual size, Katsura had to ask them to scoot a little and give way.

It was like the world suddenly turned upside down for Kagura. Not so long ago, she was doing her best to get away from the flaxen-haired boy. At present, she was practically glued to Sougo that she can barely move. If she moved even just a little, they would be touching. For some unknown reasons, in which it began to irritate her, if they touched she could just as well freeze over.

Sougo had to lift his arm and sling over at the back of the seat to give them, or rather China, more space to fit into. Who knew that dumb duck could take up so much space? Who was he to complain, though, when he was enjoying the fact that he has his arm around the girl's shoulder. Said girl, however, was as stiff as a board, so he decided to do something about it.

Kagura felt Sougo's face lean closer to her and she tensed up immediately. "China, relax." His hot breath tickled her ear and she felt a shiver run down her spine. "If you'd rather me do something to relax those tense muscles of yours..." he trailed off but didn't get a chance to continue as she elbowed him in the gut.

"You shut your trap," Kagura watched Sougo double over in pain.

Though his stomach ached, Sougo noticed that the girl did relax. She was actually leaning on him._ Leaning_. Before he could jinx anything, he relaxed himself and carefully wrapped his arm around her shoulder lightly.

While Sougo wanted the ride to be a little bit longer, Kagura wished otherwise.

* * *

Ehh, is the pace too fast? Too slow? Tell me what you think, please（. x3）


	4. Beach Volleyball Competition

**'heRsheys says**: I've got a lot of excuses in mind but I don't think that would do any good nor would change the fact that I updated so late. So, I'll just go and wash the dishes while you guys read. Carry on, carry on.

**Disclaimer**: You all know I don't own anything... 'cept maybe this brand new keyboard I bought yesterday.

* * *

Summer Heat

_'heRsheys ChoColatier_

The vast blue ocean caught Kagura's attention and Sougo couldn't be more thankful. Although he had told her to relax and relax she did, she still sent blows at him whenever she felt that they were much, _much _in contact with each other. Sougo decided to let it go. Kagura was too caught up at the scenery that she didn't even realize her arms were clinging onto his shoulders for her to get a better view.

Shinpachi's loud voice snapped them both and they turned their attention to the front of the vehicle. "Ah, Gin-san! That's it, right? XXX Resort."

Sougo inspected the sign on the opened gate and sure enough they've come to the right place.

Gintoki paused at a booth just after passing by the entrance. He nodded at a staff member. "Good day,sir," the staff greeted before peeking further at Gintoki's window then started to count.

"Whoa, whoa. What are you doing?" Gintoki asked, interrupting the guy from his task.

The guy turned to him and smiled. "Oh, I'm just counting the heads, sir, so we can work on your entrance fee."

"What? What entrance fee? I didn't know any of these entrance fee stuff. How much per head? Is there a difference between a child's and an adult's fee? If so, how much for ages 1-27?"

"Uhm, sir. Ages five to twelve have fees for three hundred yen. The rest is five hundred."

"What about ages below five?" The perm-head quickly asked.

"Free of charge, sir."

Gintoki immediately turned to other passengers, particularly at the back. "Well, I sure am glad to have toddlers on board." Kagura immediately sucked on her thumb and acted like she had no idea of the world around her. She elbowed the boy beside to do the same. Although his gut ached again, he did his best to do a facepalm.

The staff guy sweat-dropped at their antics. "Uh, sir. I am certain that the girl is no-"

"What are you trying to say? Do you not see the innocence that she radiates around her? Boy," Gintoki laid a hand on the poor guy's shoulder through the window. "She just had her fourth birthday yesterday."

"Sir, I'll have to-"

"Staff J-san, is everything all right?"

Gintoki breathed a sigh of relief and leaned comfortably on the window of the van while Staff J-san abruptly turned around, "Tsukuyo-sama!"

* * *

Katsura ran over to the veranda of the cottage with Elizabeth. He read as the other held up a sign. "What a wonderful view."

Katsura nodded. "The cottage is actually near the beach. We can go there anytime. As a matter of fact, we can go there now!" he exclaimed and both jumped over the railing of the veranda and skipped to the waters.

"Oh my," Otae said in delight, "I didn't know you own this resort Tsukki."

Tsukuyo shook her head, "I don't. I'm just working as a manager here." She smiled at the sight of Kagura fighting over a treat with a flaxen-haired boy.

"Come on, you sadist! Give me that so I can go and play with Zura!" Kagura's words, however, were of no use as the boy simply pushed her away from him and started munching on the treat.

"Is the pool far from here?" Sougo asked.

Tsukuyo shook her head.

"We can go there later if you really want to," said Gintoki as he entered, Hijikata and Kondo followed from had just finished unloading their things.

"Not really," Sougo muttered and flinched when Kagura slapped his upper arm in irritation. She glared at him and he smirked back.

"Whatever. I don't want to waste this perfect day on you." Kagura stomped off, dragging both Otae and Kyubei with her.

Sougo just remained silent and watched the three go out.

"Uwaaa~" Kagura reveled at the sight of the vast blue ocean. It was so much beautiful up close. She took off her flip-flops and grinned at the feel of the soft warm sand beneath her feet. Feeling all giddy, she dragged the two women again with her to the waters.

"Oi, Sougo. Your nose is bleeding," Hijikata nonchalantly said. Seriously, the boy was too easy to read. He couldn't blame Sougo, though. Not when the China girl was frolicking around in a two-piece bathing suit. One thing Hijikata failed to notice. however, was the fist coming towards his face. No contact has been made yet but he had known the bastard sadist aimed for his nose. Pain exploded from the blow he got and he swore his nose turned on a ninety-degree angle.

"Oi, Hijikata-san, your nose is bleeding as well." Sougo wiped the blood off his nose with the back of his hand as Hijikata shouted curses at him. He glanced back to the vermilion-haired girl. Damn that China, he thought as he glared at Kagura, when the hell did she start growing out boobs?

He wasn't able to ponder on that matter for long as an announcement was made. Speakers attached on posts blared as the announcer spoke. "Good day, everyone! The annual Beach Volley Competition will start soon. Interested pairs are encouraged to join. Just head on to the sherbet stand for more details. Remember, the grand prize is an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet for dinner tonight! Get wet, have fun; God Bless everyone!"

"Hooo!" Kagura enthusiastically turned to Shinpachi. "Pachi! Did you hear that? All you can eat!"

The boy responded with equal enthusiasm."Yeah! Let's go and register to the sherbet stand."

"Gin-chan, you, too! The more number of entries, the more chances of winning!"

Gintoki rolled his eyes."You sound like a promoter girl. I don't want to." He had already expected she would ask why. "Two reasons. One, I just don't want to. Two, because of number one."

"Kyu-chan, would you like for us to join, too?" Otae asked.

Kyubei shook her head. "I don't know how to play the sport."

"Otae-san! Let's pair up!" Kondo exclaimed as he jumped and attempted to capture the love of his life. He knew it was coming. He knew it was coming and yet he didn't make a move to avoid it. He really didn't know why. Perhaps because it was the only way they could ever make contact. And so, the fist of the woman he loved came in contact with his face and he was left for dead.

Kagura shrugged. "Suit yourselves." She and Shinpachi headed to the sherbet stand and saw there were actually a number of people who wanted to play.

"Wait, Kagura-chan. Do you even know how to play?" Shinpachi asked as Kagura lined in queue.

"Isn't it just the same as volleyball? We had that in our P.E. class so don't worry."

"Oh, I think you should really worry." Kagura turned to her side and saw Sougo smirking at her. Hijikata was with him.

The female tutted in annoyance. "I didn't know you'd have the skills enough to be joining this."

Sougo ruffled her hair and she slapped his hand."There're still a lot of things you don't know about me, China doll."

Kagura did her best to stay where she was and watched the sadist advance in his side of the line.

Moments later, Kagura and Shinpachi were able to successfully register. The grand prize kept them on their feet as they met various kinds of players. Kagura's powerful spikes and Shinpachi's exactitude on finding other people's weaknesses also helped.

However, there was one thing Kagura wanted more than the grand prize and that was facing Okita Sougo and defeating him. The competition was done in a single-elimination method and his team had already topped the other group. She glanced at her side. There stood a blonde boy and beside him looked like a friend of his. That pair was their next opponent. If she and Shinpachi beat this pair, then they will surely face the sadist and Mayora.

"Why the face, China? You worried you're gonna lose?" Blazing blue eyes turned and glared at deep red ones. Although her eyes were filled with ill-intention, he was chuffed it wasn't directed at some blonde fool. Sougo ruffled her hair and she responded with a slap on his hand and a 'Stop doing that!'

"I'm the only one who's allowed to beat you, China," Sougo stated before walking away.

Kagura frowned. Stupid Sadist.

The sun bit on Kagura's skin but she thought nothing of it. She held the ball and prepared her service. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the ball flying towards the opponent's side.

Kagura watched as Touyu, the blonde-haired boy, return the ball with a spike. Shinpachi barely caught the ball and it ended up landing on the sand. The opposing team had won the second set.

"Dammit," Shinpachi muttered as he watched Touyu wave smugly at his fans. He and Kagura had won the first set, but now with the other team winning the second set, they will have to do a breaking point. Whoever gets to do 15 points will win.

"Pachi, how are we going to beat them?" Kagura demanded. "The two of them are really good."

"Aside from the fact that Touyu-san is a first-class ladies-man, I've got nothing." Shinpachi looked at the brunet who was smiling at everybody. "His partner, Yuuto-san, seems like an easy-going person, like an all-rounder." He shook his head. "They really are good."

The game went on as both teams struggled for dominance. When a team scored a point, the other scored back. In the end, the score was 14-14. The referee whistled for a break and Kagura flopped down on a chair. She sighed, exhausted.

A sudden coldness on her cheek made her jerk and soon realized it was a bottle of water. She took it, thinking it was Shinpachi, and looked up. It wasn't the megane, though.

Sougo continued to drink his own beverage silently. He barely heard her mutter her gratitude. It didn't matter, really. As long as she beats the blonde bastard, it was fine.

When the match started, Kagura tried not to put any meaning behind what the sadist did. The match was more important. She stared at Touyu who was holding the ball. It was the other team's time to serve. She mentally fumed as she watched Touyu smile, wink and wave at a female audience. _Conceited jerk_, she thought in annoyance. Then an idea hit her.

Touyu smiled confidently as he raised the ball higher and was ready to make a spike when he heard a cute voice call out his name.

"Touyu-san~!"

He soon realized it was the girl from the other side of the court. He almost had an overflowing nosebleed from the sight in front of him. She winked and was bent towards him, giving him a view of her chest area. Distracted, his slap on the ball had little force and he watched in horror as the ball bounced back from the net.

"Oops," Kagura muttered innocently as the referee hand-signaled their win. She turned to her partner, who looked at her as if he knew nothing of what just happened. Everyone else didn't seem to notice her little trick.

When it had finally sunk in, Kagura grinned at the thought that they were one step away from winning the grand prize. Remembering who they were going to deal with next,she searched the crowd for the familiar flaxen-haired boy with the bloodshot eyes. Kagura found him and was expecting a smirk or a frown; instead she was met with an icy cold glare.

The grin on her face dropped as the boy continued to glare at her. Sure, she had received a lot of glares from him before but nothing like the one he was giving her now. He would glare at her out of annoyance or irritation, maybe, but never so serious to the point that she's believe 'looks could kill.'

Kagura watched in utter confusion as Sougo simply turned and walked away. _What the hell?_

* * *

Let's just say Kagura doesn't have her usual Yato attributes like being vulnerable under the sun. Also, I'm not that familiar with the sport, so you'll have to excuse any errors.


End file.
